On Monday, February 17, the Port Robinson Community Centre is holding its 7th annual pasta dinner.
“It's our major fundraiser for the centre,” says the chair of the community centre’s board, Marty Wilson, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “And not only that, but it brings the community together, which is awesome.”
The dinner includes penne pasta, meatballs and sausage, fresh dinner rolls, salad, and dessert.
As always, proceeds of the dinner will go to beautification projects.
“We've asked the city for some new chairs, but if they can't do that this year, we're looking at purchasing new chairs, which is a huge price tag for us,” says Wilson.
To purchase 80 chairs would cost around $6,000.
“It’s huge,” Wilson say. “If [the city] does approve it, then we're looking at buying a small shed for outside to keep our gardening tools and our signs and all that kind of stuff in.”
After the pasta dinner, it’ll be full-steam ahead for the community centre’s spring events with an Easter Egg Hunt and a Mother’s Day tea.
One thing’s for certain: the community centre is buzzing with activity these days. Last year, they had a record-breaking 180 hall rentals.
“Every year we set goals for beautification and rentals,” says Wilson. “And then COVID hit and we were just peaking and then we weren't sure how we would crawl out of that. Surprisingly, our goal for 2024 was 96 rentals and we reached that goal by the end of June.”
Wilson says that the support from the city has been invaluable. Just last year, the city installed a new parking lot, new windows, and they repainted the exterior trim of the building.
“They're seeing what we're doing and appreciating it and doing their part,” Wilson says. “We’re quite happy.”
The Port Robinson Community Centre Pasta Dinner will take place on Monday, Feb. 17. Adults pay $15 and children pay $8. There are two seatings available: 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Take-out is also available between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
For reservations, call Marty at 905-384-9513.